Washing Fiber

Washing fiber, any kind, involves a lot of hot water and time. To make it a bit easier, I use the washing machine, a top loading. A front loading machine will not work. I fill the washer with hot water to the appropriate level for the amount of fiber I have. Then once the machine has stopped filling, I turn off the machine. I add a few of big squirts of dishwashing liquid, like Dawn or Palmolive. That stuff cuts grease on dishes and it will cut grease on fibers. Just make sure not to make any suds. They are a bear to rinse out.

Then I gently put in the fiber, and push it under the water. I use a stick, a rod, laundry gloves, etc. because the water is HOT. I close the lid, set the timer for about 10-15 minutes and leave. DO NOT AGITATE. Agitation will only make felt, not what I want at this time. After the time is up, I set the machine to spin, and spin out all the dirty water. Once the spinning has stopped, I open the lid and take out the fiber. If it looks dirty, I will do the whole routine again. Once the fiber is clean, I take it out and spread it over a sweater rack and let it dry for a day or so. Voila, clean and pretty fiber, ready to use.

Because of my lack of water, I have most of my wool processed in a mill. Here is a link to a mill that has some pictures to give you an idea of how it is done commercially. http://www.ozarkcarding.com/our-process

But I did the mohair myself. Mohair, as a general rule, as opposed to a major rule or even a private rule, is cleaner than sheep wool, meaning it has less grease. It’s the grease that is hard to get out of sheep wool and takes all the water. You have to rinse and repeat many,4,5,6 times before it is clean.

As an aside, do you know what sheep grease is really called? Its called lanolin. When it is purified, it is an important ingredient in many hand/skin softeners. Really. Go check your hand lotion.

Here is a neat video about how to wash wool in the machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qXBUeAwvO8

She does hers just a bit differently. She can adjust the temp of her water heater. Mine does not adjust that easily, so my water is not as hot, therefore I have to do more soaks. Also, she fills her washer with a hose. That is a plus because you don’t have to take all that wet wool out very time for a new soak. Because she can adjust the hose to fill up the water from the bottom, there is little chance of felting. I have to fill mine using the internal spray. Spraying the water on the wool will cause it to felt practically before your eyes and again, that is not the goal. *g*

So here as some pictures of the mohair after it has been washed. I ran it through the carder several times to get it ready to blend with the other fibers that have already been processed. Did you know that if you click on any of the images in this blog, it will take you to a larger version of the image?

By the way, have you voted for your favorite shawl pattern? Just go down to the bottom of the page and look for the voting gadget. If this does not work for you, just send me message via Facebook. Thanks!

Getting the Fiber Ready

For several years I used to process my fibers from start to finish. This is time consuming and also consumes a lot of water. Since I moved a few years ago, I don't have access to enough water. I am on a well and its not a very deep one at that. However, the upside is that I have delicious water. *g*

So most of the fiber I use now has already been processed at a fiber mill. I did process a bit of my fiber and I'll tell you about that in another posting.

The first thing I need to do today is to divide all my fiber into four even piles. It makes it much more manageable. I’ve weighed out how much I have of each fiber and then divided it. Let’s see… ¼ of 13 ounces is? Who said that you don’t use fractions when you grow up? I must admit however, while in elementary school, I never really thought that I’d need to use fractions to separate my yak pile into equal parts *g*

Now my stash is all separated. I have found yet another use for those recycle bags. I just love those things. Nowadays, whenever I need to carry things or store things or move things, I reach for a recycle bag. It makes me feel so green. *g* Kermit was wrong when he said it wasn’t easy being green.

The next thing is to blend it altogether using my carding machine. I could use the hand carders, but my wrists are old and feeble, so it’s easier for me to use a machine called a drum carder. This is a Fricke Petite. It is called Fricke because that is the guy who first built/designed this particular model and Petite because it is the small one. A few years ago, Strauch bought the company from Fricke and now makes the same machine under his name.

Did I mention that a lot of spinning equipment is made by hand, one at a time, as opposed to factory assembly lined produced? Old Henry Ford had the right idea when it came to putting together automobiles, but it does not quite work that way for spinning equipment. You can read more about drum carders here http://www.strauchfiber.com/dc_petite.php . The picture there of the cat resting in the fiber is cute and oh, so true. There is something about a pile of soft, fluffy fiber that cats can’t resist. Case in point: here’s my little sweetie, Stanley, just enjoying herself to high heaven. Yes…Stanley is a girly-girl kitty. Long story. *g*



The wool here was from a project I did last year. I made the yarn from BFL (blue faced Leicester) and mohair and spun in a little bit of gold thread and made my sister a shawl, called a Chrysanthemum Shawl by Lily Chin.

I just noticed that in the picture on the right, along the bottom, just to the right of center, you can see the tip of my shoe. That also gives you an idea of how large the shawl is. I’ve made 3 of these and now I’m ready to try something else, although I do enjoy making pineapples *g*

Picking a Pattern

As several of you know, I like to spin my own yarn. What I thought that I would do with this blog is to go through the process of all the things to do to make yarn and make an item. I thought it would be fun if I posted pictures and descriptions of what's happening and of course, answer any questions and ask a few questions myself *g*

I have the fibers picked out in my head of what I'd like use. I'm thinking of a yarn made of mohair, soy silk, tussah silk, yak, merino wool and blue-face Leicester wool. So I need a pattern. I have decided on making a crocheted shawl. Shawls are nice in the cooler months for those times when you are say, sitting down, reading a book, and a sweater is a bit too warm and a blanket is just too bulky. The hard part is picking a pattern. There are so many beautiful patterns out there. My favorite online site to find patterns is http://www.ravelry.com/.

I've found a few that I like and can't make up my mind. What pattern do you like? Keep in mind that each pattern can be made in any color (s). Make a comment and help me decide *g*

All Shawl


Blue Curacao



Cassandra



Pineapple